1. Field of the Invention
This invention generally relates to verification systems and methods, and more specifically to an authenticity validation system and method for validating the authenticity of primarily high-ticket items.
2. Description of the Invention
In this age of heavy promotion and advertising of many goods, including in particular designer clothing and expensive jewelry and watches, there is widespread counterfeiting of those high-ticket items that typically bear famous names or trademarks. Companies that produce and heavily promote such high-ticket items, including designer clothing and handbag companies, for example, lose millions of dollars each year from the sale of counterfeit merchandise, commonly referred to as “knock-offs.” Despite trademark and anti-counterfeiting laws passed against it, knock-offs continue to be produced and sold both to those who simply want to purchase lower-priced imitations of a legitimate or authentic product or to those individuals who purchase imitations under the misapprehension that they are original or bona fide products. Particularly in the latter cases, purchasers can be duped into paying significantly more money for a counterfeit product than a “knock-off” or imitation is worth. To date, there is no known system that exists that empowers a consumer to reliably check the authenticity of a high-priced ticket item. This has presented problems to consumers as some of the knock-offs are very difficult to distinguish or tell apart from the authentic or legitimate items.